Disclaimer: This story is not written for profit and no infringement of copyright is intended.
DREAMS OF CHILDREN
Chapter Three
Ginny pulled her jacket more tightly around her shoulders and stared apprehensively at the building around her. She was standing in the foyer of what appeared to be a hotel, though there were no bellhops, no waiting staff and (most worryingly, for a 13 year old girl on her own in a strange city) no other guests. The two people who had brought her here were conversing quietly in a corner, trying not to look suspicious. Ginny could tell they were talking about her because every so often they would look over at her, catch her catching them and then resume their conversation with a pained, guilty smile. The young witch felt absolutely exhausted, but she refused to show it. Instead she squared her shoulders and held her chin high, knowing that now, more than ever, she needed to appear strong. She couldn't go around looking like some poor little girl-
She pushed the thought away: she knew what happened to poor little girls when they assumed that someone wasn't going to harm them.
Suddenly she heard a loud bang and jumped. A broom had been left leaning against a door that had just been opened, and suddenly a very tall, thin young woman stumbled into the room. Despite herself Ginny reached forward to help the woman to her feet, meeting her bright grin with one of her own.
"Fred!" the giant called with a slightly goofy grin, and Ginny was reminded of the way Charlie or Bill smiled at her when she used to catch them sneaking back into the house after a night on the tiles. The young woman pushed her messy brown hair off her face, simultaneously knocking her glasses off her nose, and Ginny thought she saw Cordelia snort with laughter.
"Angel!" the messy woman responded, practically glowing with happiness. Ginny was familiar with this response. She'd behaved like this every time Harry had even looked her way since they'd met. It occurred to Ginny that this "Fred," must have a crush on Angel nearly as big as the one she had on Harry, and felt her heart soften in sympathy at this fellow traveller. "Oh, and who's this?"
"I'm Ginny," she said politely, holding out her hand.
"Are y'all from England, with an accent like that?" She shook Ginny's hand energetically, almost pulling her arm out of the socket. "You sound just like my friend Wes. Are you from the Watcher's Council too?"
The little witch shook her head, unsure what to make of that. "No, I'm from-"
"Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," another voice finished. This time she recognized the accent as English; this must be the "Wes," Fred had mentioned. Another man, slightly younger and smaller than Angel came forward, a welcoming smile on his face. Once again, Ginny felt an immediate liking for this person, though she couldn't say why. Maybe it was because with his dark hair and his glasses, he reminded her ever so slightly of Harry. Or maybe it was because she was (demonstrably) a terrible judge of character and this bloke was actually some kind of powerful dark wizard too. God knew, she seemed prone to liking them. At this thought she visibly stiffened, and once again felt for her wand in her bag.
Wes misread her reaction. "Don't be alarmed, please. I know we- What's the term you use? Mungles?-"
"Muggles," she soundlessly corrected.
"We Muggles aren't supposed to know about the school, but I'm a special case. My grandmother was the liaison between the Watcher's Council and the Ministry for Magic during the war. She always wanted to get a chance to see the school for herself."
"So what're you saying, Wes, that she's some kind of magical being?" Angel broke in, a hint of concern in his voice.
"Yes, it's, well it's complicated actually. I suppose you'd say that this young lady's family, and many others all over the world have a natural predisposition towards magic. That's right, isn't it, Miss..?"
"Weaseley. Virginia Weaseley," she said, drawing herself up. "But how did you know where I was from?"
Wes actually smiled at that. "You used the word "apparate," to describe how you got here. Cordy called on the cell-phone to ask me to look it up on the way over. I recognised it. Very few other people would have. So, would you like some tea?" he continued, as if this were the most normal thing in the world. Ginny wasn't sure she could get her head around the idea that random Muggles out there simply knew about Hogwarts: it seemed really wrong somehow. But then, what did she know? For all she understood, Professor McGonagall could be a rock star over here and she wouldn't know (though somehow, Dumbledore seemed more the rock star type: she'd have to tell him when she got back…) Unsure how to respond, she found herself nodding numbly, and Wes bustled off, followed by Fred. She saw Cordy give the giant man a significant look at which he nodded and followed his friends deliberately into the other room.
"Seems a lot of people just to make some tea," Ginny began, wanting to make sure Cordy knew she was dealing with an equal. She wasn't going to pretend to be thick.
The other woman actually smiled appreciatively at her. "Oh, from what I hear you Brits make a huge deal out of your tea. With this amount of people on the case the result should be awesome. Though," she laughed slightly here, "the thought of Angel trying to do anything with that hob is mucho entertaining. I'm convinced he's gonna set himself on fire one of these days."
"Touched by the clumsy fairy, as my mum says?" she rejoined, thinking of Ron and his butterfingers.
"That's a nice way to put it." Cordy gestured to the couch. "So, you want to actually come into the house now that you've insulted the man of it? I promise, sweetie, I won't bite." Reluctantly Ginny walked further in. "See, that wasn't so difficult." Wes bustled in, carrying a tray with a silver tea-pot, milk and sugar and a small plate of biscuits ("And I used to wonder why people thought you were gay," Cordelia muttered sarcastically, laughing to take the sting out of her words and laying a hand easily on his shoulder. Inwardly, Ginny sighed, remembering how once upon a time making personal contact with those around her had been that easy. Now she couldn't bring herself to touch anyone).
"Why aren't they coming in?" she asked bluntly as Wes shuffled out.
"They're scaredy-cats. They like to leave the touchy-feely stuff to me."
""Touchy-feely"?" she asked innocently.
"Yeah, y'know, feelings, personal problems, most of the lighter decapitation work. It pays to be a girl…" Seeing Gin's horrified look she laughed. "Oh, I'm just joking! It's just that, well-" She put down her tea-cup. "To be honest, I don't think it's an accident that we found you in that alley. And if it's not accidental, if we were meant to find you, then there's something we're supposed to help you with."
"Says who?"
"We call them The Powers That Be, cos, y'know, it's simpler. But other people have other names for them. They're, well, it's like we're kinda free-lance agents for them. Mostly what that means is that they send me messages, images with an address attached of whatever Big Bad is gonna rise in LA and we stop it. It's kinda our calling."
Ginny stared at Cordy in unabashed amazement. "You're a seer?"
"Yeah." She didn't seem to think there was anything usual in that.
"But they're incredibly rare!" She was staring at her reverently. "There hasn't been a seer born into a wizarding family in something like 7 generations! Back home, you'd be a celebrity! And you think you made a prophecy about me?"
"Whoa, no, not a prophecy. I just see things a few hours before they happen and try to change them. I ain't Elrond, honey!" Cordelia laughed uncomfortably and took a sip of her tea. "What I meant was that I think maybe The Powers wanted me to find you and help you out."
"Nobody's interested in helping me out." Just as suddenly as it had arrived, Ginny's excitement fled, and her voice regained its flat tone. If there was some great power keeping the universe going then where the hell had it been when she needed it the most? Where had it been in the Chamber of Sec-
Involuntarily she jerked the cup and spilt her tea.
"Sorry, I'm so clumsy…"
"That's ok, it's just a silly cup!" That's what her mum would've said, she thought. And suddenly, for some reason she couldn't fathom, Ginny felt herself tearing up. Maybe it was the stress of the evening, maybe it was simply tiredness, maybe it was the fact that she'd heard Ron and Hermione discussing Harry and someone called Cho Chang this morning, but suddenly everything seemed to be on top of her and she couldn't breath. She sucked her breath in sharply through her teeth and willed the tears to go away before Cordy saw them, but no such luck. She was finally having tea with someone who wanted to see what was wrong with her. And maybe that was the reason: she could cry in font of Cordelia because she wasn't one of her family, because her pain wouldn't tear this woman apart the way she was terrified it was tearing her family apart. Here, she didn't have to pretend for anyone's sake. The tears spilled out over her lashes, and she gave a low, dry sob that set her chest aching.
Wordlessly Cordy pulled her into a hug and held her, rocking her ever so slightly and whispering muffled words of comfort. Ginny felt relieved and heart-broken and furious with herself all at the same time. But she felt, and that was something she hadn't been able to do in a very long time. And when the first round of tears were gone and her voice felt ragged from crying, the young American tipped her face up to meet her eyes.
"Let's talk," she said simply.
So they did.
You like? You know what to do...
